Real life story of a Rotary Volunteer who ventured against threats to his life to argue and convince aggressive mobs trapped by misinformation and fanaticism propagated by vested interests, political clouts and self styled medicos, that Oral Polio V...
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Rtn. Dr. Anil Tomar was in charge of the Polio Booth at Naipura Primary School, some half kilometer away from the town centre. The Qualis carrying volunteers had just turned in.
There was a pretty good line of children from a nearby nursery school (Pre-primary school) when the Qualis pulled up in front of the booth. Dr. Tomar personally administered the drops with great care and affection to the young ones. A nurse from his hospital – one of the three he had brought with him – touched its little finger with a drop of gentian violet, while another girl distributed a piece of sweet or toffee, a balloon or a little toy, which more than pleased them. The children were quite disciplined and they took the drops willingly and cheerfully. In fact some little ones refused to leave the place without a second helping!
Ajay, a fourth grader, must be of 9 or 10 years, marched in with a dozen tiny tots following him in a single file. He halted before Dr. Tomar.
"Doctor Sa'b, I have 12 Hanumans (the legendary monkeys) in this platoon. Give me a bottle. I will fill them with drops, ...."
"Two each...." Dr. Tomar interrupted.
"Yes sir, only two."
Dr. Tomar gave him the bottle which he was administering from and said "Marykutty will give you more if required."
Ajay commenced his job with the dexterity of a trained nurse. Celin was amazed at the finess with which he administered the vaccine.
"Ajay is a student of this school. He has already brought around fifty children from the village and the Bhatti (kiln area), beyond those fields" Dr. Tomar said pointing to the wheat fields which lay stretched far away. "He has two younger sisters, both are paralyzed with polio – one in the right leg and the other below the hip. His father left them when the third child was born, no body knows where he is, even whether he is alive. His mother works in the Bhatti as a headload worker. He is determined that he will not let any other child of his village suffer from polio any more. His ambition – do you know what it is? – to become a doctor and cut off all the useless limbs and bones and give them new limbs by grafting as his good friend Dadu, an old gardener, does with the rose plants."
"Waw!" Celin's eyes opened wide in surprise. "Doctor, can I give him a gift, I am so much impressed. Would it be considered bad if I give him some money."
"Well I do not know. His mother is not rich, a daily wage earner. But I am told she is a proud lady. So is the boy. There is Begum Razia Sultana, the headmistress of this school. May be you should consult her before you do anything. She may find some good use for whatever you give – may be for books, clothes, food or something"
"Dr. Tomar, shall I take her over to Begum Razia Sultana. I will also give a good present. From the club we can arrange something like a pension for the two girls or scholarships for the three, well, whatever you propose." Suggested Rtn. Mahajan.
